Neighborhood walkability of college environments to support active transportation and recreational physical activity

Background: As undergraduate students transition from living on-campus to living off-campus to graduating, the built environment may influence the contribution of walking and cycling toward meeting physical activity recommendations.  It is important to understand how perceived environments differ to develop strategies that promote physical activity habits that can be maintained post-graduation. 

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 822 undergraduate students who completed the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-Abbreviated and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was conducted during 2013.  Independent sample t-tests were used to compare NEWS-A subscale scores between on and off campus students.  Stepwise regression was used to predict physical activity using the NEW-A subscales.       

Results: Residential density (p=0.04), traffic hazards (p<0.001), and crime scores (p<0.001) were significantly lower among on-campus students while land-use mix diversity (p<0.001), aesthetics (p<0.001), infrastructure and safety for walking (p=0.001) and lack of parking scores (p=0.008) were significantly higher among on-campus students.   Active transportation accounted for 9.0% of total physical activity; recreational physical activity accounted for 41.1% of total physical activity.  After controlling for age, aesthetics (p=0.001) and lack of parking scores (p=0.02) were associated with walking for transportation while aesthetics (p =0.006) and (lack of) hilliness (p=0.008) were associated with total recreational physical activity.  

Conclusion: The on-campus and off-campus environments differ in ways which may impact the ability of students to achieve recommendations for physical activity through active transportation.  Strategies to promote continued active transportation and recreational physical activity are discussed.